Monday, October 28, 2013

Author Interview: Kristen Duvall ~ Femmes du Chaos

Author Interview: Kristen Duvall

Femmes du Chaos

***

They messed with the wrong
girl this time.

From heroes to villains, Femmes du Chaos sets out to show the world what the
fairer sex is really made of. You’ll meet women of all ages and from many
different walks of life... Warriors and schoolgirls, side-by-side in one place.
One thing connects them all, and that is their ambition. Whether they use their
ambition for good or evil, well that’s for them to decide. Gritty, fantastical
and sometimes uncomfortable to read, Femmes du Chaos is a tour de force that holds
nothing back. There will be violence and there will be blood.

Here are a few of the femmes you'll meet in this thrilling collection:

Sylvia: The bounty hunter with a dark past who is hellbent on
revenge. When the justice system fails her, she sets out to correct their
mistakes.

Layla: The ballerina who wants to be a star who's spent her
life being overshadowed and under-appreciated. What happens when she stumbles
across magic that makes her sister the star she's longed to be for so long?
Let’s just say, you’ve never seen sibling rivalry like this before.

Mallory: A young girl who can see the future in her dreams.
She’s saved lives in the past, and her dreams are warning her to not return to
the world they all left behind. Faced with starvation, no one wants to believe
her about the multitude of horrors that wait for them above. After all,
monsters don’t exist... Or do they?

Some will survive and come out
stronger in the end... And some will let the darkness consume them. After all,
no two girls are ever alike.

***

Femmes du Chaos is on my VSTBR (Very Soon To Be Read) list of books, and was just released today! Author Kristen Duvall was kind enough to visit my blog and share some thoughts about girl power and the dark side.

***

Brie: All the
stories in Femmes du Chaos feature female protagonists. What was your
inspiration for writing a collection of stories like this?

Kristen Duvall: Honestly? I wrote the stories before
settling on that theme. It only occurred to me as I was compiling
them that I tend to write mostly from a female perspective, even when
most people would traditionally assume male. I write female
characters because I like seeing strong females, both heroes and
villains. I like seeing female characters in traditionally male
roles. It's just something that interests me and my writing happens
to show it.

Brie: What, in your opinion, constitutes
a strong female character?

Kristen Duvall: I like flawed characters, so anyone who
is too perfect, too beautiful, too sweet is not for me. I like seeing
flaws. And when talking about strength, it doesn't always mean they
win or that it was easy... it means they handled it and never once
buckled under the pressure. They never asked for someone to step in
and save the day for them. It's not always easy and some of the
characters struggle a great deal with their inner demons, but in the
end, they have an inner strength that comes through. That being said,
I also wrote a few few female villain pieces... and in those cases, a
strong female character meant that they could be just as ruthless as
any male can be.

Brie: Which character’s story was your
favorite to write, and why?

Kristen Duvall: I wrote most of these stories in the
span of three years for an online writing content called The Real LJ
Idol (therealljidol.livejournal.com). I wrote many more pieces than I
included, and I mostly picked my favorites. So all of them are
special to me in their own way. My favorite is probably Sylvia though
and that's because her and I are a lot alike. I can't say much more
without giving away the ending, but let's just say that if I were in
her shoes, there's a good chance I'd be in jail for murder because
I'd be tempted to do exactly what she did too. I also loved writing a
truly bad-ass female bounty hunter killing the men who wronged her,
it was way too much fun and I'd love to play in her world some more
if given the chance.

Brie: Which character’s story was the
most challenging?

Kristen Duvall: Teacher's Pet includes a woman who is a
psychopath. She was challenging because I've never written from the
POV of a villain like her before. In fact, I tend to prefer writing
from the protagonist more often than not. Not to mention, one scene
with her is just... uncomfortable and will probably push a few
buttons.

Brie: Why did you choose to explore
challenging territory in this book?

Kristen Duvall: It wasn't really a choice I made
intentionally, it's just the way my brain is wired. In real life and
with my nonfiction, I am very lighthearted and friendly. But my
fiction has always been darker and I can't explain why. My brain
comes up with some of the most disturbing ideas, and they are often
ideas that make others uncomfortable. Finding that balance is
important though as I do want to make sure the reader enjoys
themselves too.

Brie: What draws you to write horror,
dark fantasy and dystopian-flavored stories?

Kristen Duvall: It's what I like to read. I like pure
escapism when I read. I like different worlds, things which aren't
possible in the here and now. There's a part of me that's still very
much a child... I like make-believe and world building where
everything and anything is possible. The dark side, well... I'm a
twisted person and always have been. Just ask my family ;)

Brie: Do you have any more titles planned
in the future?

Kristen Duvall: Yes, I do! I have a novella that will
be released as soon as I can finish editing it called The Devil's in
the Details. It's about the devil's right hand man and explores what
his job might be like stealing souls and whatnot. It's dark, but also
a bit more fun than a typical horror story. A bit more whimsical,
perhaps.

I also have one novel completed that I
need to edit called The Caged Girl. It's the first in a series. I
like to describe it as a romantic story between a boy, a girl and
decapitation.

I'm writing another novel which doesn't
have an official name, but I jokingly call it The Princess and the
Piper because it's accidentally similar to The Prince and the Pauper
only set in a utopian future and features lesbians. It's a lot
lighter than my usual fair, but still has hints of darkness beneath
the surface.

And far off in the future... I have
Here There Be Dragons which is YA or perhaps middle-grade fiction.
It's fantasy and about a girl on an adventure to prove that she has
what it takes to be on the Royal Guard. Again, much lighter than my
other works and probably intended for a younger audience too.

Kristen Duvall
is a writer of tales both real and make believe. Born and raised in the
Midwest, she now resides in Southern California with her boyfriend, her Great
Dane and her rescued calico kitty. She's been writing and sharing her work
online for several years now, and has decided to take the plunge into
publishing her work for the world to read. She dabbles in horror, science
fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction. She enjoys both Adult and Young Adult
fiction and loves to write strong female characters.You may follow her on Facebook or
visit her website.

Coming Soon

The Princess
and the Piper (title may
change) - A utopian version of The Prince and the Pauper, only with
lesbians.

The Caged
Girl - A romantic tale
of a girl, a boy and decapitation. First in a forthcoming sci-fi/dystopian
series.

Here There Be
Dragons - YA or possibly
middle-grade story of a girl on a mission to do the impossible.

The Devil's
in the Details - A
horror novella about the devil's right-hand man.

No comments:

Post a Comment

For new release info, giveaways, and custom ray guns, sign up for Brie's newsletter!

Sign up for Brie's newsletter!

Alien Bride (Sex, Drugs, and Biopunk #1)

The truth about Ninkasi's lover awaits discovery in a terrifying alternate world beneath her feet... in which human sacrifice is the least of her worries.

Kain (Sex, Drugs, and Cyberpunk #1)

To save the woman he loves, Lukian must summon the deadly powers implanted in him by the Empire—powers he fears he can’t control, powers he struggled to forgive himself for using, powers that may drive her away forever—because no ordinary man has struck a blow against the Empire and lived to tell the tale.